Published at Saturday, 07 April 2018. Fishing Reels. By Rubina Sibilla.

Modern fishing reels are complex pieces of equipment. Take one apart and it looks much like an old-fashioned watch — lots and lots of tiny parts whose purpose is known only to a few select engineers.

Spincast Reels: With these reels the line comes off the top of the spool while casting. The spool which runs parallel with the rod remains enclosed by a cover that features a port where the end of your fishing line exits the reel. The spool remains stationary until you use a thumb button to cast. As you release the button your bait or lure will propel your line. The ease of spincast reels makes them a good choice for novices. They′re reliable and lack complexity.

Fill Your Reel Just Right. When using a baitcasting reel filling the spool to 90 percent capacity is recommended. This optimizes casting performance. Too much line is likely to increase the chance of backlash while not enough limits casting distance. For spinning reels a good rule of thumb is to fill the spool until there′s at least 1/8 inch of room from the line to the edge of the spool lip. That will let you use the most line capacity without causing line to spring off the spool and form tangles. The 1/8-inch rule applies to spincast reels too but you′ll have to remove the reel′s front cover so you can check the amount of line on the spool.